Residency at West Hempfield Elementary School

After firing about 1200 clay tile pieces, I am finally finishing up my residency at West Hempfield Elementary School. This twenty day residency, having been split into 10 day sections allowed me to single fire the clay works, work quickly with a core group of 5th graders and include the works of most of the school on the final pieces. Each child will also eventually take home a personal tile piece as a reminder of getting to work with real clay. Like many schools, this one does not have a kiln and the student body has only worked with model magic clay. I personally bought 150 pounds of porcelain clay, worked with all the students including Kindergarden through 5th grade and watched the true joy and curiousity of kids at work. Rick and I single fired the works to save about 6 loads in our kiln and I brought everything back this time around. While working on the mosaics, we also created a school alphabet that will be used in the library area. All the students got to learn a little bit about color mixing using primary colors and there was a ton of brain storming. Long days evolved and we even got to spend some time with working some creative writing into the mix. I hope to have photos tomorrow of all the pieces to post....in the meantime, enjoy the start of the writing!

From A to Z

Artwork of the West Hempfield Elementary School

Residency March/April 2011

Art

Creative, color

Painting, drawing, imagining

World without art is dull

Paint

Bunny

Furry, brown

Gazing, hopping, eating

Long eared friend of ours

Rabbit

Cat

Clever, curious

Creeping, sneaking, purring

Sly eyes looking for mice

Feline

Dolphin

Green, blue

Searching, swimming, breathing

A beautiful sight in the sea

Mammal

Egg

White, rainbow

Rolling, resting, being

Who does not love eggnog?

Chicken

Fox

Red, quiet

Hunting, seeking, running

A red tail in the woods

Animal

Giraffe

Long, spotted

Gawking, stretching, eating

Green leaves out of reach

Africa

Horse

Sleek, friendly

Galloping, trotting, walking

A friend for life

Equine

Igloo

White, cold

Snowing, freezing, sleeting

Eskimo dwelling on ice

Snow

Jungle

Green, humid

Humming, singing, moving

A place of green and life

Tropical

Kangaroo

Grey, brown

Kicking, hopping, seeking

Baby in a secret place

Marsupial

Lion

Yellow, tawny

Growling, hunting, sleeping

King of the jungle

Predator

Mouse

Quiet, grey

Hiding, digging, scaring

Radar ears hearing the cat

Mice